


where the lightning splits the sea

by theriveroflight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, F/F, Future Fic, Lila Rossi Redemption, Medium Burn, Natural Disasters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: It's 2028, and climate change has irrevocably affected Earth.The first hurricane to hit in Parisian history is here, and not everyone is prepared for the storm.And of course, there are people lurking in the background -- waiting to take advantage of it.
Relationships: Lila Rossi/Kagami Tsurugi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: October 2020 - Dark





	where the lightning splits the sea

**Author's Note:**

> :D
> 
> For the Miraculous Fanworks October 2020 challenge - villains/dark. Chose to write a Lila redemption, so villains, and dark because it's an apocalypse AU, featuring Day After Tomorrow level climate fuckery. Though I don't take it in the same way.
> 
> Chapter number is an estimate. This isn't going to be long enough to qualify as a slow burn. But it'll be fun!
> 
> I'm sure you all know where the title is from. :P

There is no hero here to save the world now. After all, they wouldn’t change the society that has let them work and benefitted them. And climate change...well, the environment isn’t top priority when there are supervillains and more current foes to deal with. It always looks like a threat looming in the distance that they can work on later.

But then the hurricanes started coming.

France doesn’t get a lot of that kind of weather. They were far north enough before that the ocean wasn’t warm enough to take a hurricane up to them.

But the year is 2028, Kagami Tsurugi is 27, and the world is ending.

As lightning splits the sky, Kagami bikes in the torrential rain, looking for some kind of underground shelter (the sewers are likely flooded…) or a building that isn’t as tall and won’t be struck by lightning. She almost runs into someone on her bike. The woman has a raincoat on, over what Kagami can only assume is some kind of bag. She’s doing the same with a bag of her own, so…

“I know a place,” the other woman says. “Follow me.”

Kagami is a little dubious, because she’s a  _ stranger  _ (a flash of recognition pings, but not one she’s inclined to follow at the moment). Kagami’s also going to be faster on her bike than the stranger. But she finds herself pedaling slower in the rain, struggling to keep herself from slipping on the pavement with the slickness of the rain and some oil from the cars floating atop it. So she manages to keep pace with the stranger, who is running quickly but her own things hold her back.

The stranger takes a left and goes into a building. Kagami dismounts her bicycle, following her inside the doors. The building looks fairly abandoned, but the stranger opens the door to a staircase. “Down here. There are others here, too. It’s a shelter.”

Kagami lifts up her bike and puts down her hood. “Okay.” And they head down the stairs. The stranger takes off her hood when they get to the bottom of the stairs. Another ping of recognition.

Lila Rossi. She styles her hair slightly differently nowadays, but it does look like how she would expect an older version of her to look.

She’s talking to the person in charge. “Who’s with you?”

“Don’t know. Encountered her on that bike while scouting. Looks to be athletic, at least, because of that well...biking.”

“You sure she’s safe?”

“She followed me. And with the current situation, I think everyone needs somewhere to go.”

“Well, that’s certainly right, Miss Rossi.” Kagami assumes that the person Lila’s talking to is the leader of whatever group this might be. She remembers her encounters with Lila weren’t great, but she has to hope that if Lila is helping people there is some hope in the world.

Kagami goes to shed her raincoat and put down her bag. “Is there somewhere I can hang my coat?” she asks Lila.

“There isn’t much space here,” Lila answers. “In case you couldn’t tell.”

“Lila,” the person Lila had been talking to says, “leave her be. Let her settle in.”

Kagami approaches the person. “My name is Kagami Tsurugi. Thank you for allowing me to shelter here.”

“Of course, we are always welcoming new members. As long as you survive, you can get by.”

Kagami can see the wicked underbelly now, the underlying darkness under the facade of good. And Kagami doesn’t...mind. She  _ does,  _ of course, because she wants to survive, and she is generally supportive of the people who are helpful, working for their benefit. But they’re letting her be here, and Kagami will try and get out. As soon as the rain stops. As soon as she can get somewhere she’s able to  _ go,  _ run, whatever. As soon as...well, as soon as the storm is over. She can go back to normal.

As normal as it’ll get. After all, rebuilding…rebuilding will take a long time.

The storm, from what Kagami knows, is not getting better anytime soon. Not until the eye arrives. And when it does, she’ll be waiting for it, her opportunity to get out and head somewhere else. Where a ghost from her teenage years won’t haunt her, where she won’t be drafted into some kind of...whatever is going on here.

Lila smirks. Kagami furrows her brows, confused. There’s...something going on. Something suspicious. She doesn’t know what, but she’ll find out.

But for now, Kagami just has to wait for the storm to pass. Nothing she can do until then.

She’s exhausted, but she needs to keep her guard up. She needs to stay alert…

But sleep…could come for her any moment…she’s tired… 

Alert. She takes out some water from her bag, and gulps some down. She needs to be  _ safe,  _ but she doesn’t need to conserve. Even with her suspicions surrounding these people, she’s willing to bet that they have some assets that she can use.

Kagami’s never had to be, but she can be resourceful.

“Rest,” Lila says, sitting next to her. “You’re  _ safe  _ here.” Kagami doesn’t notice any tells. Lila seems to genuinely believe it, for whatever reason. “You don’t have to be paranoid. We’re here to keep you safe. To keep all of us safe.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” Kagami answers. “I’m not sure whether I should believe  _ you.” _

“I’m not working for that stupid butterfly anymore. I ditched him as soon as I realized it would only hurt me in the future. And it’s been long enough, I suspect, that I don’t have to worry about being prosecuted for it anymore.”

“I could.” But she won’t. Kagami already moved on from the hurt and the pain, what would be the point?

“You aren’t going to. I can tell.” Kagami does not turn away, but she also doesn’t answer. “Rest well.”

Kagami somehow falls asleep, even though she doesn’t want to. Exhaustion, she supposes.

When she wakes up, it’s to the crack of thunder. She missed the lightning, the flash, the beginning — but there must have been more. She frowns upon realizing that she’s actually fairly hungry. Upon checking the clock, she realizes that she hasn’t eaten in...too long.

She rummages around in her bag and pulls out a banana. Good enough. Her sleep schedule is  _ thrown off  _ by how much she slept, but at least she doesn’t feel too tired.

Kagami can’t hear the rain, and there aren’t any windows to see if it is still raining out.

“Feel less tired?” Lila offers her a cup. She sniffs it. Coffee.

“I don’t drink coffee, sorry.” She hands the cup back to Lila. “But thank you. How is the storm?”

“I think it’s almost over. The rain has lightened up quite a bit. There’s still some thunder and lightning but it should be over soon. The wind isn’t as severe as it has been.”

“You’re sure?”

“You want to go out there to find out?” Lila is challenging her, but Kagami refuses to rise to it.

“Not particularly.” She gets up. “Do you have tea?”

“We might have a few sachets lying around. I don’t know.” Lila tosses her hair behind her shoulders. “I have to go see if the Director wants anything.”

The Director? There are too many mysteries surrounding this place, from Lila’s sudden reappearance to the basement they’re in to the Director that she just mentioned.

Kagami gets up. It’s an opportunity to network and see exactly what’s happening. She needs to know more.

She can’t just sit back and watch, especially if whatever she’s gotten into lasts beyond this storm.

**Author's Note:**

> Please join the [ Miraculous Fanworks Discord server](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) if you're interested in participating in events such as this challenge, as well as meet a growing community of fellow content creators in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom!
> 
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